After failing to secure a sale on eBay, Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McClaren’s son Joe Corré has burnt the first relic from his £5m punk collection.
Corré was subjected to criticism for his plans to burn the entire assortment of punk artifacts, Corré added his original acetate of Sex Pistols’ “Anarchy in the UK” to eBay to raise money for charity.
The bidding, which began at £6,000 reached £62,500 on last week (November 17), though it failed to reach its reserve of £1,000,000. The acetate and an additional turntable were set fire by Corré on Tuesday (November 22): a kind of ‘taster’ for what’s to come.
Corré, the co-founder of Agent Provocateur, will use the 40th anniversary of the Sex Pistols’ “Anarchy In The UK”, November 26, to destroy his collection. He said he’s been incensed by the co-option of punk’s legacy by the establishment; seeing the Queen give her official blessing for 2016 as ‘the year of punk’, and institutions such as the BFI, Museum of London, and the Roundhouse run anniversary events that have turned punk into a ‘museum piece’ or ‘tribute act’.
“It might be culturally significant to certain punk hangers on and freeloaders, but not to me anymore,” Corré said in a press statement. “The whole lot is going.”
The remaining assortment of punk pieces will be destroyed this Saturday (November 26).
